HERSHEY, Pa. — Editor's note: The above video is from June 2.
Hersheypark was recently awarded a rather dubious honor by USA Today, which listed the Central Pennsylvania attraction as one of the Top 100 Most Overpriced Attractions Worldwide in a recent post.
The Dauphin County amusement park checks in at No. 25 on USA Today's list, which was generated by an analysis of 23.2 million Google reviews of 500 popular tourist attractions in 65 countries on six continents across the globe.
The analysis focused on mentions of certain keywords or phrases, like "expensive," "overrated," and "tourist trap," according to USA Today.
The analysts admit that not all of the keywords or phrases were used in a negative context. A reviewer could have written something like "It's kind of a tourist trap, but we loved it!" or "It was expensive, but totally worth it," the publication acknowledged.
But based on the analysis, USA Today said, "these positive instances of usage were not frequent enough to be statistically significant, and in any case, they are consistent enough across attractions to cancel each other out."
The researchers began with a list of 1,600 worldwide tourist attractions before narrowing it to 500. All national parks, state parks, lakes, and mountains were removed. The list was further reduced based on the total number of reviews submitted for each attraction, the researchers said.
In the end, USA Today came up with three lists -- The "Top 100 Tourist Traps," the "Top 100 Most Overpriced Attractions," and "The Top 100 Most-Overrated Attractions" in the world.
Hersheypark finished 25th in the second of the three lists. A full-price ticket for guests ages 9 to 61 costs $84.95, with some discounts available for those who buy tickets online. First responders, health care workers, teachers, students, government employees, military service members and people attending concerts at Hershey properties can also get discounted prices.
Blue Lagoon in Grindavik, Iceland, was rated as the No. 1 Most Overpriced Attraction, according to USA Today.
The Capilano Suspension Bridge in Vancouver is No. 2, while the California Academy of Sciences, Canada's Wonderland, and Elvis Presley's Graceland round out the top five.
Cedar Point Ohio and Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee are the only amusement parks ranked higher than Hersheypark on USA Today's "most overpriced" list.
Interestingly, no Disney properties made the worldwide "overpriced" list, so it's fair to warn readers to take the results with a grain of salt. A ticket to the Magic Kingdom in Orlando costs up to $189, for what it's worth.
To see the lists, go here.